Green Valley School begins construction on expansion, renovations

Green Valley School in Grunthal had a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday to begin construction of the school’s new addition and renovations of existing spaces.

The 16,490 sq.-ft. addition will include a fitness room, a new gym with change rooms, three classrooms, and ancillary spaces. Renovations to the existing school will provide two new science rooms, a performing arts space, and structural roof reinforcement to existing classrooms.

Other site revisions will include a gravel parking lot in the northeast, electrical rough-ins for six EV stations in the west parking lot, and regrading including new trees and shrubs. Construction will be completed in stages and is estimated to be finished by November 2027.

“Kids were vibrating yesterday when they started seeing some of the prep work happening, not only here but students at South Oaks they were just so excited just to see how a lot of conversations have been had about this building project, but to actually see it come to fruition, it has been absolutely amazing,” said principal Angela Burtnack-Schinkel, noting this build is not only for the school but for the community of Grunthal as well.

Cheryl Froese, Hanover School Division trustee for Ward 4 South (Grunthal), said in a previous interview with The Carillon that when the school was built about 60 years ago, the residents knew the gym was too small. The gym was so small that Manitoba High School Athletic Association sports tournaments couldn’t be held there and music concerts had to be split over a couple of days to accommodate all the parents that wanted to see their children perform.

“There’s going to be a lot of talk about the new gymnasium and rightfully so. They haven’t been able to perform at the high school level in their current gym for many, many years and…to be able to host the events here that’s a big deal…but it also does create some other learning opportunities and flexible spacing as they create a performing arts type of center with the old gymnasium. It really is meeting the growth and needs of the community,” said superintendent Joe Thiessen.

The project has had a tumultuous time getting to this point. The previous PC government had approved the expansion and addition in 2021 for $12 million. In preparation for the construction project, three portable classrooms at the south end of the school were removed as was a play structure. Last September, the NDP put the project on hold.

When the government gave the go ahead once again in May, the school division had to resubmit plans to comply with new building codes. The government did reimburse the school division $650,000 for the paperwork and permits it paid for in 2021, but the province didn’t pay to reinstall the three portable classrooms. The school division paid $900,000 to restore the portables.

“People are itching. I know my son is graduating this year and there are many graduates who waited. They were actually in Grade 6 when the huts were taken away, and now they will be graduating and there’s a little bit of disappointment knowing that they won’t be able to enjoy the space,” said Froese.

Froese said she will be asking the board to have a grand opening at the school for the community “because our community’s waited a long time.”